Harkett's Haven (13 page)

‘Well Rachel Christensen,’ she said her name again, rolling her name slowly
off her tongue, savouring it, ‘I’m just going to make myself a coffee and I reckon I’ll make you one too. Given what I’ve got to say, I’m going to add a bit of that whisky you’ve got sitting over there.....think we’ll both need it.’

‘How....how....do you know my name?’

‘Patience Rachel. Patience. I’ll explain everything.’

Rachel sat
as she was told, thoughts spinning, feeling like a trapped animal. She listened to the stranger in her house making herself at home, taking cups from her shelves, filling the kettle, searching drawers for the things she needed. The home she had made her bolt hole had become unsafe and she felt threatened and vulnerable in the place only minutes ago she had felt cocooned from all that she had fled; the carpet had been pulled from under her feet.

She twisted the blanket in her hands, trying to
compose herself and think clearly. She took a few deep, shuddering breaths.

Claire appeared at her side and handed her a mug of coffee.

‘Take a sip.’

R
achel did as she was asked and choked on the strong whisky, spiked drink.

Claire laughed and sat on the single armchair beside the stove, leaning back into the soft cushions. She took a sip of her own drink, apparently relishing the strong liquor.

She sat quietly and watched Rachel.

‘How long have you been in my house?’

‘Since you and Eric arrived back here. I hid in the bathroom.’

‘You saw....’

‘Yes.....I saw...’

Rachel thought she was going
to be sick. She took a gulp of the whisky spiked coffee, her face blanching.

‘You broke into my home.... I have every right to call the police.’

‘Yes. You do. But you won’t, will you.’

Her voice was
assured and calm and Rachel knew she was right. She could walk to the phone right now and call the police but she had to know what Claire had found out and how. She also didn’t want to draw attention to herself by making a complaint to the police; it would draw all kinds of unwanted interest in a small place like this.

‘I want to explain a few things to you Rachel first.
A few things about me and Eric.’ She tucked her feet up underneath her, looking relaxed and confident, gazing into the flickering flames of the stove.

‘I should lay my cards on the table
. I wanted Ep> . I wanric the first time I saw him....when he first started working at the practice. He looks bloody great doesn’t he?’

She glanced
up at Rachel, looking for some acknowledgement but Rachel kept her eyes on her shaking hands which were twisting and knotting the corner of the blanket which was wrapped around her shoulders.

‘I made it my business to be around him whenever I could. Set about seducing him I guess you would say.....I knew a bit about his p
ast....knew about Sarah. I dug round, looked in places that I shouldn’t by rights be looking in.’

She shrugged, ‘Living in a place like this makes it easy to snoop. People rarely lock things away, lock doors.
Even you Rachel. Left your door open. Fallen into country habits.’

‘You had no right....’

‘Of course I had no bloody right!’ Rachel jumped when Claire raised her voice angrily.

The woman with the mascara streaked face sighed and relaxed again, slumping back into the chair.

Rachel wished with all
her heart that she hadn’t  become involved with Doctor Eric Harkett. She had lived here anonymously and happily for the last six months and had gradually lost her fear of being discovered. Now that she had let someone into her life her security had vanished in the click of a finger. Whatever Claire wanted from her was going to mean change for her again. She felt a growing seed of anger inside her; anger at herself for being as stupid to think that she could trust someone again, to leave her past behind.

‘Anyway, Rachel.
I made it my business to know about Eric Harkett because I wanted him....... I bet he hasn’t told you much about himself.’

And he hadn’t. But her relationship with Eric could accurately be described as whirlwind.
Sudden and intense. She didn’t need to know about his past and she hadn’t wanted to know.

‘He’s quite a guy, you know. He’s working here as a common or garden GP but he’s
a cardiothoracic surgeon. A bloody good one. They’ve been trying to tempt him back ever since he arrived here.’

Rachel lifted her head and watched Claire. The woman who had made herself
so at home in her house continued to gaze into the flames. Rachel studied her. She was tall and willowy, large blue eyes. Her delicate, china-white hands clutched her cup tightly, giving away her underlying anger. She had pushed back her long, blonde hair behind her ear. She was a beautiful woman.

‘He’s worked in New York, then London.
He was top of his game.’’

‘And then h
is wife, Sarah killed herself. Did you know that?’ She looked at Rachel, expecting shock. Rachel returned her gaze calmly, feeling more in control now, not wanting to give Claire any sign of emotion.

‘By all accounts he was a bit of a bastard to her. Never home, not interested......fucked anything that was on offer.’ She sighed.

‘There was always a lot on offer.’ She cast >

‘I think he had a sudden attack of guilt when Sarah took her life. Probably more for
Esme than Sarah, I reckon.

Why was Claire telling her this? What was it going to achieve? Why didn’t she just bloody get to the
point ?

‘So he came here. Bought the house on the beach and took on one of the GP partners positions. Thought he would get to know his daughter better....make up for lost time.
Make it up to her for pushing her mother over the edge.’

Rachel took a drink of her coffee again, grimacing at the taste. Claire was right; she needed the fortification the strong alcohol provided.

Claire smiled at her.

‘But that’s just one part of Dr
Harkett’s life.... he’s a man of many talents....and secrets.’

Rachel’s heart fell. How could she get involved with such a man? She had leapt from the frying pan into the fire.

‘He’s from a wealthy.....very wealthy Canadian family. His father .....and his father’s father were industrialists. Built up a vast fortune....but Eric turned his back in his family.’ She paused and smiled, that hard, tight smile again.

‘But hey. Rifts can be mended eh?’

Rachel felt momentarily sorry for Eric. This was a woman who had a grand plan for him and one that she was to play a central part in.

‘He wants for nothing, he need
s nothing. He plays at being the humble country doctor but he’s nothing of the sort.’ She looked coldly at Rachel, ‘He’s good at playing someone he’s not...something you both have in common.’

Once again Rachel felt her stomach turn and she felt like retching.

‘So I made it my job to get into his bed. It wasn’t difficult.’

She smirked and then winked at Rachel conspiratorially. Rachel
squirmed in her seat, not wanting to hear her words but held in a trance she couldn’t break from.

‘I’ve been fucking him on and off for a year now. He’s not been faithful to me...but the other ones have never lasted long. He always come
s back to me.’

She paused to drink from her cup.

‘So....you can imagine my shock when he.....when he spelled out the way he thought he felt about me at his house that day.... the day I met you at his house. Finished it!’

She spat out these last two words as if they left a bad taste in her mouth.

‘I saw him again at the MacKenzie boy’s place but he didn’t want to know.....you can imagine how this had made me feel.’

‘Please Claire. I didn’t know....’ Rachel felt she needed to explain her
situation.

Claire picked up her cup and threw it at the opposite wall in fury.

‘You just be qhinou justuiet.’ Claire’s voice was soft and menacing.

Rachel gasped and shrank into the sofa.

They sat in silence for a minute, Rachel not daring to say a word.

Claire took a deep breath and having managed to compose herself again, picked up her story.

‘He’s never treated me like that before. He’d fucked a number of ....of....tarts while he was with me but he never threatened to leave me before. I wanted to know what you did to him. Who Rachel Somerville was.’

‘I couldn’t find anything on you to begin with but I spoke to
Esme. She was helpful. Told me you’d come from somewhere in America. With the help of a map she remembered Connecticut.....I figured there might be something on-line about you and what do you know? I struck gold.’

Her face had lit up with self-congratulatory smugness.

‘Of course, you were known as Rachel Christensen but the pictures were unmistakably you.’

Rachel found herself holding her breath.

‘Your fiancé made headline news. He was jilted....the day before you were to be married.......and you .....gone without trace. Murder? Abduction? The fuck it was!’

Claire watched her closely for a reaction. Rachel struggled to keep her face blank but she wasn’t
going to let this woman get satisfaction from a show of emotion from her. She felt torn and stamped on inside. She had known that he would look for her. She hadn’t guessed that what she did would make headline news but that was naivety on her part. He was a rich, handsome man who gave a lot to the community he lived in. Well liked by many. She was the rags to riches girl, the lucky one he had taken for his own, to live a life pampered and spoilt. And she had disappeared without trace the day before they were to be married. Everyone like a mystery. Or a tragedy.

‘So what’s the story Rachel?’

Claire watched her intently, interested; interested in the way a small boy is interested in what happens if he sticks a pin through an ant and watches it struggle. Rachel pondered denying everything but she figured that Claire had made sure of her facts before she had broken into her house and confronted her.

Rachel remained silent for a moment.

‘My past is none of your business.’

‘Yes it bloody well is. You’ve made it my business.’ She spat her words out with venom and Rachel couldn’t help shrink back into her seat.

For the first time, Rachel was genuinely scared about what this woman was capable of. She had broken into her home, had made detailed checks into both her and Eric’s past and was keeping her here with intent....well....intent to what? What did she want from her? Rachel’s instincts were to try and leave the house but she needed to know what Claire intended to do with the information she had worked so hard to get. She had to see this out.

‘He’s not given up looking for you, you know.’

Inside she had always known that he wouldn’t. She had always hoped that another woman would catch his eye. But he wasn’t that kind of man. He had sworn his love for her. Bef

‘He knows you’re somewhere out there. To be honest, I don’t know how you’ve managed to evade being found for this amount of time......pity.’

‘Well Rachel. So here we are. I knew it was you the moment I saw your picture in the papers. But I had to check......make sure. I need to check your paperwork, find a passport.....just find something.....’

She grimaced as if tasting something sour.

‘I went in to work Monday morning and found out that Eric had called in a locum to cover the surgery for the day and I knew where he’d be.’

She looked at Rachel
with so much undisguised hate that Rachel felt like she had been physically slapped.

‘So I carried on as normal for a short time and then....fainted. What do you know? Sent home......I wondered what to do then. Confront you both again? ...but although that would be instant gratification for me, I knew it would achieve nothing......
wouldn’t get me what I wanted. I decided to head out here to see what was going on, unsure what I would do......I just needed to see what he was doing here.’